As indigenous females, Mayan women were among the lowest orders in Guatemala’s hierarchy of material power. Yet paradoxically, for some, the skills associated with their gender and ethnicity provided them both independence and an income that bested Mayan men’s earnings. Examining the history of Mayan molenderas (corn grinders and tortilla makers) reveals the nuanced workings of micropower within systems of domination. More broadly, the diverse experiences of Mayan females who migrated to the coast to work in the coffee economy during the late nineteenth century and twentieth centuries lay bare the threads that connect exploitation and empowerment, as well as the resulting friction. As Guatemala became increasingly integrated into the world market through coffee export production, how did local gender relations and national labor relations change?
Mayan labor on the coast was an integral aspect of liberal governments’ development strategies in the late nineteenth century and twentieth century, especially in...
